Sea and Sand
by giacinta
Summary: The brothers have a quiet night on the beach.


Sea And Sand

X

The moon was enormous in the night sky, the air balmy and soothing, the sea curling its way gently to the shore before retreating; a veritable paradise.

It was an unusual place for Sam Winchester to find himself, sitting pleasurably on the warm sand and enjoying the gentle breezes coming in from the ocean.

He looked heavenward.

The moon was surrounded by twinkling stars; he recognised most of the constellations and star clusters, for he and Dean had spent many an insomniac night studying them while lying out on the hood of the Impala, a cool beer in hand, but they were usually viewed from some country road or field.

He could count on one hand the times he had sat on the sand like this. Dean had never been a fan of the sea-shore and passing time on the beach had not been on the to do list of the Winchester family, even when Dad was alive.

He sensed more than heard Dean approaching with the food and coffee, having grudgingly agreed to Sam's idea of eating on the sand instead of in their shabby motel room.

He threw himself down beside him, handing over Sam's order.

X

"Shit Sam! I hate the beach. The freaking sand gets everywhere and you know it makes me itch in the most unimaginable places. The things I do to keep you happy, Sasquatch!" he bitched.

"Don't be so melodramatic, Dean." Sam huffed. "A hot shower will get rid of every last grain."

"Yeah whatever, but give me a good old American back-road or a smoky bar every time."

X

Sam shook his head; sometimes Dean was unbelievable. The scene laid out before them was beautiful and heart-lifting but for some reason his big brother just couldn't or wouldn't appreciate it.

Well Dean could grumble all he wanted; Sam was enjoying eating his meal surrounded by the sea and sky.

"Full moon, dude," Dean declared awkwardly, his mouth occupied with chewing on a burger.

"The werewolves will be out in droves tonight. Pity there isn't one stalking the beach. It would at least give me a reason to be twiddling my thumbs here."

Sam rolled his eyes. "Dean, just go off to wherever you want. I don't see any chains holding you here. Go and play pool or something. You don't have to stay because I do."

"Naa! Gotta watch your back, bro. Sam Winchester alone on a deserted beach makes for easy monster bait."

"I'm no longer a five-year old Dean. I think I can take care of myself for a few hours," Sam bitched grumpily. "I mean it, Dean. Just go and do your own thing. I'll be fine!"

X

Dean pushed his leftovers into the paper bag and lay flat out next to Sam on the warm sand.

"Well, I suppose I can sacrifice myself for one night, princess. Spending a few hours out here might not be so bad after all." Dean conceded.

Sam's lips curled up in a half-smile as he shook his head fondly.

X

He finished off his coffee and lay back alongside his brother, his jacket cushioned under his head.

Dean's eyes were closed.

"You asleep?"

"You must be joking Sam! Falling asleep here would be tantamount to suicide. No salt lines, no wards!" Dean replied. "I'm just resting my eyes for a few minutes."

X

"Dean," Sam asked. "Don't you ever think on how truly assed up our lives have been?"

"Sam, I'm already uncomfortable with being completely exposed on this beach, I don't think I could take any deep philosophical debating at the moment."

"No seriously Dean. Remember what Gabriel said to us that time in the warehouse?"

"Come on, Sam; that was ages ago and a lot of water has passed under the bridge since then."

"Yeah but when he told us that we had been destined since Adam and Eve to be vessels for Michael and Lucifer, that was just unbelievable! Why us? There are plenty of brothers who could have filled the part just as well, if not better."

X

"Sam, why are you asking me a question that I have no answer for?" Dean grumbled as Sam pulled himself up one elbow, gazing down at him.

"Just who decided to pick us? Was it God, the archangels or who? When was it decided? Why did the world have to end in a Lucifer/ Michael Apocalypse anyway? Could God not just have blasted it with an asteroid or something whenever he was ready?"

X

Dean pulled himself up on his elbow, mirroring his brother.

"Sam. What the hell! What brought all this on?" Dean asked puzzled. They had never talked about any of this after Stull Cemetery.

X

"I'd just like to know Dean. What was so special about us? If I was destined to be Lucifer's vessel anyway, then why did Azazel double the dose by infecting me with demon-blood?"

"I don't know Sam," Dean answered evenly. "And I don't care. As long as those douche bags leave us alone in future, I 'm not interested in re-hashing the past."

X

"But the past is important, Dean." Sam insisted solemnly. "I know that the life we lead has gotten us used to the weirdest of the weird, but the things that have happened to us haven't happened to other hunters; vessels for archangels; you going to Hell and being dragged out by an angel, then the demon blood and me being imprisoned with Lucifer for all those years in the Cage; we've even travelled through time; been to Heaven and back; not to mention the number of times we've died and been resurrected. We're so off the board that it's unbelievable, Dean!"

"Once I thought I could be normal by going off to Stanford and putting the hunting life behind me, but even there I was surrounded by demons," Sam huffed ironically. "One introduced me to Jess! I couldn't have normal then and I will never have normal simply because I'm not normal, just as you're not. We're a pair of freaks Dean," Sam finished off sadly, his expressive eyes glazing over." We never stood a chance Dean. Never!"

X

Dean watched as his little brother's emotions flitted across his face.

Sam had spoken the truth.

There was nothing he could say to change anything that had happened to them in the past.

X

"Sam. I….. I don't know what the big picture is, or why we've had to go through all that we have. I'm the first to wish you could've had normal. You remember that time I was caught by the Djinn and I finished up in my wish world? It wasn't perfect, but you had Jess and I had a sweet chick called Carmen and mom was alive. I just wish you could have seen yourself Sammy," he smiled, as Sam eyes met his own.

"You were in real geeky lawyer mode. But you know all the people we saved here, in that world had been killed because we hadn't been around to stop it and most of all Sammy we didn't have 'the unhealthiest, tangled up, crazy thing' that we have here, and I missed that, you know."

"The what?" Sam asked, his brow furrowing at Dean's strange phrase

"It's what Lisa told me once, that we 'have the most unhealthy tangled up crazy thing she had ever seen'. "

X

"You never told me that! Why would she say something like that?" Sam objected.

"Why do you think, Sammy?"Dean replied his eyes burrowing into his brother's

Sam lowered his eyes. He knew why, because it was true and obvious to any one who saw them together.

X

"She said that, did she? Poor Lisa! I'm sorry Dean." Sam sighed.

"Nothing to be sorry about Sam. It would never have worked out," Dean acknowledged flatly.

"You say you couldn't have normal but neither could I. We're just gonna have to hold on to what we **do** have. You got me Sammy. I ain't going anywhere and I hope I got you."

"You know you do, Dean." Sam assured, eyes wide. "You're never gonna get rid of my ass. Maybe the heavens didn't do enough research when they picked on us bro, cause things didn't quite turn out as they planned."

"You got that right Sammy. The script they wrote for us had a lot of holes, so maybe we can fill them in with ideas of our own," Dean smirked, as he lay back on the warm sand.

Sam followed him down and two pairs of green eyes looked heavenward.

They had lived unusual lives, had been blessed with a special bond and their future was still to be written!

X

Dean closed his eyes. Nothing could touch them tonight.

"Dean, you okay?" Sam's soft voice asked.

"Never been better Sammy. You?"

"I'm good; real good." Sam answered and he was.

X

XXX the enD XXX


End file.
